Dean reels them in
As a DNC member, I automatically get the Party press releases. Today’s:
THE DEAN EFFECT: REVVING UP ONLINE ACTIVISM AT DEMOCRATS.ORG
Washington, D.C. - Democrats.org, the online home of the Democratic
National Committee (DNC), has experienced 120% jump in the number of
daily visitors since Governor Howard Dean was elected Democratic Party
Chairman this past weekend. Democrats from all 50 states have signed on
to Dean’s plan for the Party, and are offering their own ideas.The huge spike in interest from Democrats across the country was
matched by an increase in new members — the rate of new people joining
the Democratic Party online has jumped by over 60% since Governor Dean
took office. These dramatic results reflect Governor Dean’s strength in
the grassroots community and his ability to bring new people into the
political process.
Dr. Dean was in Portland yesterday, for a previously planned debate with Richard Perle. (Portland lived up to its reputation as unfriendly territory for righties: someone threw a shoe at Perle during the event.)
Several DNC members and party staff had the opportunity to meet with Dean. He asked specifically how the DNC could help with both 06 congressional and statewide office races and state legislative contests. We also talked about ballot initiatives for campaign finance reform. We discussed how to approach the “red” parts of the state. He’s concerned about keeping activists active and engaged in doing meaningful work. Part of his plan is to fund grassroots organizers: there’s no shortage of people who want to do work, but resources and staff to direct those efforts are scarce. (We went from a campaign-level staff of 80 back to 5 people.)
Watch for the democrats.org website to improve too. He’s planning on revamping it to include many of the tools used in the Dean for America site. His first online act was to put a form on the site asking Democrats to write in with their own ideas.
The doctor is definitely “in” and dispensing medicine.
February 18th, 2005 at 12:12 pm
The doctor is in…
…but oddly enough, still isn’t condsidered electable.
Man…it’s a good thing we went with the electable guy.
February 18th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
Are we sure it wasn’t an agent provacateur who tossed the shoe?
February 18th, 2005 at 1:51 pm
Meaningful work to the DNC means shaking down those who still believe the national party is anything more than a machine to fleece the powerless. So now they’ve bought off Dean–big deal.
February 18th, 2005 at 2:11 pm
Um, Spartacus, are you our resident right-wing troll? Just in case you’re not, I’ll answer: this is the new DNC. Things are changing. Meaningful work involves things like: gathering signatures to put campaign finance reform on the ballot, organizing letter-writing campaigns, recruiting and working for progressive candidates.
The national party is simply a collection of people. You can become part of the solution and try to change it or just sit on the sidelines and throw rocks. I think Dean really will change the national party, and do something about the local ones in the process.
February 18th, 2005 at 7:51 pm
So anyone who doesn’t suck up to one or the other of the two parties that jointly gave us Vietnam and the Gulf wars is just throwing rocks, huh? Maybe smugness is an issue the Dems could have a seminar on.
February 18th, 2005 at 9:21 pm
It’s not about sucking up; it’s about working for change. I’m not particularly happy with the way our system works, but I believe my best chance to change things is by getting involved with the Democrats. We’ve managed to elect a chair who was against the war in Iraq. The party is moving to be more bottom-up. I think these are positive changes.
Yes, the Dems were complicit in the Viet Nam and Gulf wars. I won’t argue with you there! That doesn’t mean the Party philosophy can’t change in the future. After all, the Republicans used to be the fiscal conservatives…
February 18th, 2005 at 11:40 pm
Dean was great last night. I blogged about it right afterwards. I was pretty tired, but I did my best to summarize it, with my bias of course. Even without the bias, Dean had it in the bag!
February 19th, 2005 at 4:06 pm
I also attended the event. It was FANTASTIC…riveting and enlightening.
I blogged about it the next day.
February 19th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
My co-blogger Carla and I were in the audience for the Dean/Perle debate. We each blogged on it individually. She’ll be along with a handy link, most likely.
The shoe thrower… Yes, the crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Dean. I mean specifically pro-Dean. I saw more than a few Dean lapel pins. Unfortunately I couldn’t peel and wear either of my “Independents for Dean” bumper stickers. Although we also saw a number of Dean bumper stickers as we looked for somewhere to park. The shoe thrower received a generally negative reaction from the audience… which is what he deserved. To his credit, Perle didn’t cower or flinch.
February 19th, 2005 at 9:25 pm